The present invention relates to an apparatus for, and a method of, preparing numerical control data for interactive mounters where numerical control data for mounters to mount electronic parts automatically onto a printed circuit board are prepared interactively.
In the prior art, numerical control data for mounters are prepared by manual operation in most cases such as disclosed in Japanese patent application laid-open No. 194507/1986, but they may be prepared automatically. To prepare the numerical data automatically, data regarding shape of parts or a head of an insertion machine and the installation position of the parts and the like are stored, and the determination of whether a collision exists or not during part mounting is based on stored data. The numerical control data are thus generated for mounters such that collisions are avoided.
However, even when the numerical control data for mounters are generated automatically, correction, addition, and indication regarding shape of parts or shape of mounters are not considered. As a result, not only is the data input complicated, but also data errors cannot be easily found. Also manual correction or indication of the mounting process and the mounting sequence of each part are not considered. As a result, the determined mounting process and the mounting sequence cannot be easily found and the correction reflecting know-how of the skilled producer of numerical control data cannot be performed. Further, supporting the input of data required during a collision state (the names of parts regarding the collision state indication and the name and the mounting direction of the mounter for mounting the parts) are not considered, thereby all required data must be stored by the user. Moreover, the change of lines for assembling the printed circuit board (arrangement of the mounter) is not considered and as a result, the mounting process and the mounting sequence cannot be determined in lines other than those already determined.
An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for preparing numerical control data for mounters, wherein inputting or correcting the shape data of a head of a mounter, a jig, and components is facilitated, and the mounting process, the mounting sequence and the collision state so determined can be easily indicated.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for preparing numerical control data for interactive mounters, which can easily accommodate a change in the arrangement sequence of mounters due to change of lines, an apparatus for preparing numerical control data for interactive mounters where data of head shape of a mounter can be simply inputted and whether the inputted data is good or not is determined, an apparatus for preparing numerical control data for interactive mounters where data of the shapes of components can be simply inputted and whether the inputted data is good or not is determined, an apparatus for preparing numerical control data for interactive mounters where components relating to detected collisions and various sorts of treatments for the components are calculated, an apparatus for preparing numerical control data for interactive mounters where whether the determined mounting process is good or not is determined, an apparatus for preparing numerical control data for interactive mounters where the determined mounting process is corrected, an apparatus for preparing numerical control data for interactive mounters where whether the determined mounting sequence is good or not is determined, and an apparatus for preparing numerical control data for interactive mounters where the determined mounting sequence is corrected.